Peter Dickson Typhoid has struck the quarantine zone being set up by the army along the Eastern Cape’s eastern border with KwaZulu-Natal to block the deadly foot-and-mouth epidemic.
The killer fever, which attacks the intestines, broke out as soldiers started manning 24-hour roadblocks spread over a 40km radius to allow 330 animal health technicians and state veterinarians to begin vaccinating all stray and unclaimed animals in the Umzimkulu region against the foot-and-mouth virus.
The Eastern Cape health service reported that at least 11 people had died following the typhoid outbreak in Mount Ayliff and Mqanduli, while another 10 people were diagnosed with the disease. The dead include three children.
However, MEC for Health Monwabisi Goqwana said the typhoid outbreak is under control.
The military manoeuvres in the northern Transkei, last seen on such a scale during the 1980s states of emergency imposed by the apart-heid regime, follow appeals to Bisho by Eastern Cape cattle farmers concerned about the swift spread of the foot-and-mouth virus since it broke out two months ago.
MEC for Agriculture and Land Affairs Max Mamase says the movement of animals in and out of the Umzimkulu area will be prohibited for at least two years.
Mamase, under pressure from farmers to tighten preventative measures, said his monitoring force had decided on vaccination as the “wise” option over culling.
He said he is worried that there are not enough veterinarians in the province should there be a foot-and-mouth outbreak and his chief objective now “is to vaccinate every animal crossing the border and make sure that all cars are searched and sprayed”.